---
title: "Cilium"
sidebarTitle: "Cilium Provider"
description: "Cilium provider enables topology discovery by analyzing network flows between services in your Kubernetes cluster using Hubble."
---

## Overview

<Tip>

Cilium provider is in Beta and is not working with authentication yet.

The current way to pull topology data from your kubernetes cluster, is to run:
```bash
# hubble-relay usually installed at kube-system, but it depends on your cluster.
kubectl port-forward -n kube-system svc/hubble-relay 4245:80
```

and then use `localhost:4245` to pull topology data.

If you need help with connecting Cilium provider, [reach out](https://slack.keephq.dev).

</Tip>

The Cilium provider leverages Hubble's network flow data to automatically discover service dependencies and build a topology map of your Kubernetes applications.


<Frame
    width="100"
    height="200">
    <img height="10" src="/images/cilium_topology_map.png" />
</Frame>


## Authentication Parameters

| Parameter | Description | Example |
|-----------|-------------|----------|
| `cilium_base_endpoint` | The base endpoint of the Cilium Hubble relay | `localhost:4245` |

## Outputs

The provider returns topology information including:
- Service names and their dependencies
- Namespace information
- Pod labels and cluster metadata
- Network-based relationships between services

## Service Discovery Logic

The provider identifies services using the following hierarchy:
1. Workload name (if available)
2. Kubernetes labels (`k8s:app=` or `k8s:app.kubernetes.io/name=`)
3. Pod name (stripped of deployment suffixes)

## Requirements

- A running Kubernetes cluster with Cilium installed
- Hubble enabled and accessible via gRPC
- Network visibility (flow logs) enabled in Cilium

## Limitations

- Only captures active network flows between pods
- Service discovery is limited to pods with proper Kubernetes labels
- Requires direct access to the Hubble relay endpoint

## Useful Links

- [Cilium Documentation](https://docs.cilium.io/)
- [Hubble Documentation](https://docs.cilium.io/en/stable/hubble/)
- [Kubernetes Network Policies](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/services-networking/network-policies/)
